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Saturday, February 24, 2018

The quick answer is: Because Jesus willfully did penance for 40 days in the desert, we willfully offer up something for the 40 days of Lent (which does not count the Sundays).. We make this offering in remembrance of His offering. The penance we do we use as an opportunity to think upon Jesus' time in the desert - a time of fasting and prayer.

What Do We Give Up?It can be anything, but should be something we would normally partake in every day. Some give up coffee or soda, others give up meat, or type of meat. Sometimes we give up something which is a healthy choice for us - like giving up chocolate or desserts of any kind. Then, when we would have partaken in that - we think on Christ. It is a way to bring our hearts and minds to Him. Whatever we give up does not have to be severe, it just needs to be something we would miss so that out thoughts can be directed to Him.

Don't Play the MartyrOthers can know what you've given up - but it isn't something you should constantly remind them of. As much as possible, this should be a private sacrifice between you and Jesus.

Forty Days? It Doesn't Add Up!If you count out all the days from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, it's more than 40 days. and the reason for that is Sundays are "feast days" and thus not intended to be a day of penance so don't count the Sundays and you have 40 days of Lenten observation. This also means that whatever it is you have offered up for Lent does not have to be offered up on Sundays of Lent.

Meatless FridaysWhile the Friday penance throughout the rest of the year doesn't HAVE to be abstinence from meat anymore (it still CAN be, and in my humble opinion, SHOULD be), during Lent, as faithful Catholics, we MUST abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. It must be pointed out, we don't give up meat on Fridays because it is sinful, there is no sin in eating meat, the sin would be the violation of Canon Law - which all faithful Catholics must abide by.

Saturday, February 03, 2018

Christmas for 2017-2018 is officially ended with Candlemas - which was Feb. 2nd.

THE PURIFICATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Candlemas Day

Mary and Joseph presented Jesus in
the temple on this day. The Holy Spirit had revealed to the just and
devout Simeon that he should not die before he had seen the Christ of
the Lord. In the temple the old man glimpsed Jesus in Mary's arms and
blessed God, knowing that at last he had seen the Savior, "a light of
revelation to the Gentiles and a glory of Thy people Israel."

But only after the Savior's
Passion and Crucifixion would the light win for men the final victory
over bodily and spiritual death. Simeon therefore said to Mary, the
co-redeemer of mankind, "Thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that the
thoughts of many hearts may be revealed" (Luke 2:35). May we,
too, after having shared the redemptive sufferings of Christ attain the
final grace of presentation in the holy temple of God's glory.

Easter is a bit earlier this year than most, so we are now in the preparatory weeks for Lent, this Sunday is Sexagesima Sunday:

Traditional Propers for Sexagesima Sunday

Vestments: Violet

INTROIT
Psalm 43: 23-26Arise, why sleepest Thou, O
Lord? arise, and cast us not off to the end. Why turnest Thou Thy face
away, and forgettest our trouble? our belly hath cleaved to the earth:
arise, O Lord, help us and deliver us. -- (Ps. 43. 2). We have heard, O
God, with our ears: our fathers have declared to us. V.: Glory be to the
Father , and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the
beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen

COLLECT -O
God, who seest that we put not our trust in any thing that we do:
mercifully grant that by the protection of the Doctor of the Gentiles we
may be defended against all adversities. Through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy
Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

EPISTLE
2 Corinthians 11: 19-33; 12: 1-9Brethren, You gladly suffer
the foolish: whereas yourselves are wise. For you suffer if a man bring
you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take from you, if a man
be lifted up, if a man strike you on the face. I speak according to
dishonor, as if we had been weak in the past. Wherein if any man dare (I
speak foolishly), I dare also. They are Hebrews, so am I. They are
Israelites, so am I. They are the seed of Abraham, so am I. They are the
ministers of Christ (I speak as one less wise), I am more: in many more
labors, in prisons more frequently, in stripes above measure, in deaths
often. Of the Jews five times did I receive forty stripes save one.
Thrice was I beaten with rods, once I was stoned, thrice I suffered
shipwreck, a night and a day I was in the depth of the sea: in
journeying often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils
from my own nation, in perils from the Gentiles, in perils in the city,
in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils from false
brethren: in labor and painfulness, in much watching, in hunger and
thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness; besides those things
which are without, my daily instance, the solicitude for all the
Churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is scandalized, and I am
not on fire? If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things that
concern my infirmity. The God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who
is blessed for ever, knoweth that I lie not. At Damascus the governor of
the nation under Aretas the king, guarded the city of the Damascenes, to
apprehend me: and through a window in a basket was I let down by the
wall, and so escaped his hands. If I must glory (it is not expedient
indeed) but I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a
man in Christ above fourteen years ago, whether in the body I know not,
or out of the body, I know not, God knoweth, such a one caught up to the
third heaven. And I know such a man, whether in the body or out of the
body, I know not, God knoweth: that he was caught up unto paradise, and
heard secret words which it is not granted to man to utter. For such a
one I will glory: but for myself I will glory nothing but in my
infirmities. For though I should have a mind to glory, I shall not be
foolish: for I will say the truth: but I forbear, lest any man should
think of me above that which he seeth in me, or anything he heareth from
me. And lest the greatness of the revelations should exalt me, there was
given me a sting of my flesh, and angel of Satan, to buffet me. For
which thing, thrice I besought the Lord that it might depart from me.
And He said to me: my grace is sufficient for thee: for power is made
perfect in infirmity. Gladly therefore will I glory in my infirmities,
that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

GRADUAL
Psalm 82: 19, 14Let the
Gentiles know that God is Thy Name: Thou alone art the Most High over
all the earth. V.: O my God, make them like a wheel, and as stubble
before the wind.

TRACT
Psalm 59: 4, 6Thou hast moved the earth,
O Lord, and hast troubled it. V.: Heal Thou the breaches thereof, for it
has been moved. V.: That they may flee from before the bow: that Thine
elect may be delivered.

GOSPEL Luke 8: 4 - 15

At that time,
when a very great multitude was gathered together and hastened out of
the cities unto Jesus, He spoke by a similitude: The sower went out to
sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the wayside, and it was
trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And other some fell
upon a rock: and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because
it had no moisture. And other some fell among thorns, and the thorns
growing up with it choked it. And other some fell upon good ground: and
being sprung up yielded fruit a hundredfold. Saying these things, He
cried out: He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And His disciples
asked Him what this parable might be. To whom He said: To you it is
given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, but to the rest in
parables: that seeing they may not see, and hearing may not understand.
Now the parable is this. The seed is the word of God. And they by the
wayside are they that hear: then the devil cometh and taketh the word
out of their heart, lest believing they should be saved. Now they upon
the rock are they who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and
these have no roots: for they believe for a while, and in time of
temptation they fall away. And that which fell away among thorns are
they who have heard and, going their way, are choked with the cares and
riches and pleasures of this life, and yield no fruit. But on the good
ground are they who in a good and perfect heart, hearing the word, keep
it, and bring forth fruit in patience.

PREFACE (Preface of the Most Holy
Trinity) - It it truly meet and just, right and for our salvation, that
we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O holy
Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God; Who, together with Thine
only-begotten Son, and the Holy Ghost, art one God, one Lord: not in the
oneness of a single Person, but in the Trinity of one substance. For
what we believe by Thy revelation of Thy glory, the same do we believe
of Thy Son, the same of the Holy Ghost, without difference or
separation. So that in confessing the true and everlasting Godhead,
distinction in persons, unity in essence, and equality in majesty may be
adored. Which the Angels and Archangels, the Cherubim also and Seraphim
do praise: who cease not daily to cry out, with one voice saying:

COMMUNION Psalms 42: 4I will
go in to the altar of God, to God who giveth joy to my youth.

Sunday, December 24, 2017

This is the Fourth Sunday in Advent - and this year it is also the LAST DAY of Advent! Tomorrow is the Christ Mass! Joy to the world! Peace unto men of goodwill (not the mistranslation of "goodwill, peace to men").

Today marks the closing of the shortest possible Advent Season, and tomorrow starts the Christmas Season. The "Twelve Days of Christmas" start on December 25th, Christmas Day, and go through January 5th. January 6th begins Epiphany (which is also a Christmas Season). Christmas can actually be celebrated all the way to February 2nd which is Candlemas - and in the lectionary Candlemas is the last time for the liturgical year that the Nativity of our Lord is mentioned in the readings. So, don't be in too much of a hurry to take down your Christmas decorations!

Don't forget! While every Sunday is a holy day of obligation, so is tomorrow! The Christ Mass is one of the highest of all the feast days - second only to Easter Sunday. The way we explained this to our children when this happens is "You don't HAVE to go to Mass two days in a row, you GET to!"

Saturday, December 23, 2017

Well, yes - but not THIS year, nor several more to follow. This Sunday is the Fourth Sunday in Advent - but Monday is Christmas! This means that the "Fourth Week of Advent" is really just a single day! Monday begins the Season of Christmas! I say several more years to follow because the Fourth Week of Advent will only gain a day per year (excluding Leap Year) eventually getting us to a full week after the Fourth Sunday of Advent - which, of course, will put Christmas on a Sunday and that won't happen again until 2022.

Many of you may be scratching your heads over the statement that Monday begins the Season of Christmas. Many think the Christmas Season begins when Santa Claus rides in on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and lasts until Christmas Day. Well - they are wrong! The current season, which begins four Sundays before the Christ Mass, is Advent. The Season of Christmas begins on Christmas Day and lasts through at least Epiphany (January 6th). The older tradition is that Christmas lasts through Candlemas - in which the Nativity is read about for the last time in the liturgical year. Candlemas is on February 2nd and is the 40th day of the Christmas/Epiphany Season.

"For a child has been born for us, a son given us; authority rests
upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6

"He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many
peoples; they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their
spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against
nation, neither shall they learn war anymore." Isaiah 2:4

O Oriens

We Pray:

Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

(Note: A literal translation of the Latin yields "O Rising Sun", but
the poetic "O Morning Star" or "O Dayspring" is often preferred.)The phrase 'O Oriens' comes from Zach. 3:8 : τὸν δοῦλόν μου Ἀνατολήν
and servum meum Orientem. This should be compared with the Hebrew
tzemach. Isaiah had prophesied:

"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those
who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined." Isaiah 9:2

And we sing:

O come, Thou Dayspring, from on high,
And cheer us by Thy drawing nigh;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death's dark shadows put to flight.

"A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots." Isaiah 11:1

"On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the
peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be
glorious." Isaiah 11:10

Jesse was the father of King David, and Micah had prophesied that the Messiah would be of the house and lineage of David and be born in David’s city, Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). Also compare Isaiah 45:14, Isaiah 52:15 and Romans 15:12.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory o'er the grave.

"I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he
shall open, and no one shall shut; he shall shut, and no one shall
open." Isaiah 22:22

"His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless
peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and
uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onwards and
for evermore." Isaiah 9:7

"...To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house."Isaiah 42:7.

O come, Thou Key of David, come
And open wide our heav'nly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.

"The importance of O Antiphons is twofold: Each one highlights a title for the Messiah: O Sapientia (O Wisdom), O Adonai (O Lord), O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse), O Clavis David (O Key of David), O Oriens (O Rising Sun), O Rex Gentium (O King of the Nations), and O Emmanuel. Also, each one refers to the prophecy of Isaiah of the coming of the Messiah...

If one starts with the last title and takes the first letter of each one - Emmanuel, Rex, Oriens, Clavis, Radix, Adonai, Sapientia
- the Latin words ero cras are formed, meaning, Tomorrow, I will come.
Therefore, the Lord Jesus, whose coming we have prepared for in Advent
and whom we have addressed in these seven Messianic titles, now speaks
to us, Tomorrow, I will come. So the O Antiphons not only bring
intensity to our Advent preparation, but bring it to a joyful
conclusion." (What Are the O Antiphons)

Isaiah 11:1-2:

And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root.

And
the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: the spirit of wisdom, and
of understanding, the spirit of counsel, and of fortitude, the spirit of
knowledge, and of godliness.

The O Antiphons are put to verse in a very popular Advent carol, "O Come, O Come Emmanuel." (Play the YouTube video at the top of this article).

Day One we sing:

[Verse 6]O come, Thou Wisdom from on highAnd order all things, far and nighTo us the path of knowledge showAnd cause us in her ways to go.

Saturday, December 16, 2017

Well, that's what many are calling the Vatican Nativity Scene shown below:

Click on for larger view

At first glance this scene does not even appear to be a Nativity Scene. If you look a bit more closely though, you can find the Baby Jesus, Joseph, Mary, the Three Wisemen, the Angel and the Star - but what of all the other "noise" around the scene? I have to agree with Patrick Madrid in his Tweet:

Who's in charge of designing/approving Vatican manger scenes? This year's naked-guy rendition is just bizarre. Jarring, discordant & chaotic, it's not even Baby Jesus-centered. Yes, the extra bits are meant to depict works of mercy, but why? They don't belong in a Nativity scene.https://twitter.com/patrickmadrid/status/941083134841556992

Certainly the Season of Advent is a good time to practice Corporal Works of Mercy and we should incorporate these into our Advent penance - but the Nativity Scene should be centered on the Incarnation, the Baby Jesus. Traditionally, all the figures in the Nativity Scene - even the animals, are looking at the Baby Jesus - in the Vatican Nativity Scene can you find ANY of the figures looking at the Baby Jesus? Not the Angel, not Joseph, not even the Blessed Virgin are looking upon the newborn Christ-child. See a traditional example below:

For those reading who may not know, or know all the Corporal Works of Mercy, here's a list:

So yes, there is a time and place for everything (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8) and the Corporal Works of Mercy are good to meditate upon, or more importantly DO, but to clutter up the Nativity scene with these other figures detracts from the Nativity. I can certainly see where it can be argued that one of the reasons Jesus came into the world was to not only preach, but DO Corporal Works of Mercy, but again there is a time and place for everything. What are your thoughts? Please share them below this article. Should the Nativity Scene be used to promote the Corporal Works of Mercy?